Media Release

Although Te Marae Ora has had the ability to test for COVID-19 in-country since May 2020, the ministry has been working towards setting up a PCR lab for several months now.

Te Marae Ora has organised four consultation meetings early next week to advise people on the government’s plans to roll-out the coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine. There will be a meeting in each Vaka and one at the dome at the National Auditorium; starting on Monday evening.

Secretary of Health Bob Williams today reiterated his appreciation for the way most
people responded to advice from Te Marae Ora over the weekend.

Secretary of Health, Bob Williams is extremely grateful for the way the community reacted yesterday to the various requests that were asked of them.

As you have probably heard Auckland has moved to Alert Level 3 (lockdown) and the rest of New Zealand to Alert Level 2 as of 6am today, for a period of seven days. NZ needed to do this to get on top of the cases they have and break the chain of transmission.

Earlier this morning Auckland shifted to alert level 3 lockdown for seven days. The rest of New Zealand went into level 2 at the same time and for the same duration. These moves come after the NZ Ministry of Health announcement yesterday afternoon that a new COVID-19 case was detected in the community.

Secretary of Health Bob Williams has this afternoon provided an update with respect to the evolving situation around COVID-19 community cases in Auckland and any impact on the Cook Islands